Multimedia distribution systems have remained local area network systems (LANs) due to the lack of an available distributed multimedia infrastructure. In existing wide area networks (WANs), the available bandwidth is insufficient to support remote playback of video files, particularly in view of network-related problems such as network latency, jitter and limited throughput. As a result, a typical solution is to maintain large libraries of video files in a large number of geographically dispersed locations in order to provide reasonably rapid access for widely disbursed users. The cost of creation and maintenance of such multiple video libraries, along with the local distribution facilities, is often prohibitive for most users. In addition to the prohibitive cost, the difficulty in scheduling viewing and managing the local distribution of such videos makes video distribution systems rare and inefficient.